WouldJew Believe #22: Holiday Edition

Outrageous, odd and interesting Jewish facts for the New Year.

According to Leo Rosten, not one person in a hundred — Jew or non-Jew — knows what the name “Rosh Hashana” truly means. Most view the holiday as the beginning of the New Year, however, rabbis in the Talmud and Midrash teach that Rosh Hashana is the anniversary of creation itself! Another Rosh Hashana Emmes (true point): Pickles, a great Jewish food favorite, are never served at Rosh Hashana dinners, so as not to start anew with a sour taste.

To play or not to play on the High Holidays has been the question – for Jewish celebs. Let’s look!

To play or not to play on the High Holidays?

“HAMMER’N HANK”

"We shall miss him on the infield and shall miss him at the bat, but he's true to his religion — and I honor him for that." — Edgar Guest, 1934

These are the last lines of a poem written in honor of “Hammer’n Hank” Greenberg, when the baseball great who lead the Detroit Tigers to win their first American League pennant, refused to play on Yom Kippur in 1934. In 1938, with 58 home runs, he almost beat Babe Ruth's record of 60, but set a major league mark when he slammed two homers per game eleven times. In 1941, he was inducted into the Army, and was the first major leaguer to re-enlist following Pearl Harbor. After his discharge in June of 1945, during the pennant race, Hank hit a home run for the Tigers in his first game back, and blasted his famous grand slam home run in the last inning of the final game of the season. The man that Joe DiMaggio called "one of the truly great hitters" — Henry Benjamin Greenberg -- born in New York on September 16, 1911, was the first Jew elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1956.

And while we’re on the subject ...

A “GOOD JEWISH BOY”: SANDY KOUFAX

“The Jewish kid is probably the best of them.” — Casey Stengel, in answer to the question, “Who was the finest pitcher in baseball history?”

Although the L.A. Dodger southpaw pitching star played on the Sabbath when scheduled, he would not appear in the first game of the World Series against the Minnesota Twins, because it fell on Yom Kippur on October 6, 1965. Instead, he went to shul and fasted. His father, who thought baseball “a stupid game,” was nevertheless proud of his son’s famous decision, calling him “ ... a good Jewish boy.”(You can read more about Sandy Koufax here).

TWO JEWISH GREATS: A FAMOUS FIRST & LAST

On the day following Yom Kippur in 1966, a young Ken Holtzman who was in his first full season in the majors, faced his hero, Sandy Koufax, who was in his last, in a pitching duel at Wrigley Field! Interestingly, the matchup occurred because Koufax refused to pitch on Yom Kippur and was rescheduled for the following day. Ken took a no-hitter into the seventh inning and allowed only two hits as he defeated Koufax, 2-1. Koufax retired after the season. Ken finished the season 11-16 with a more than respectable 3.79 ERA.

JEWISH MAMAS AND ... GOOD SPORTS

Born in 1896 to Orthodox parents, Benjamin Leiner, who boxed as Benny Leonard to keep his profession from his family, is considered by many to have been the greatest lightweight who ever lived. The International Boxing Hall of Famer, known for his intelligence, ultimately inspired the whole Jewish community. But at first mama was dubious. A street fighter from age 11, his mama asked: "A prizefighter you want to be? Is that a life for a respectable man? For a Jew?" Even when she knew of his boxing -- and fully supported him -- Leonard was sensitive to his mother's feelings, and refused to fight on a Jewish holiday.

Throughout my life, when I was moving further and further from Judaism, I always clung to a single thread — Yom Kippur. On that one day I fasted. I might be shooting it out with Burt Lancaster or John Wayne, or battling Laurence Olivier and his Romans (Spartacus) ... but I always fasted,” added Douglas, born Issur Danielovitch, in 1916. The son of Russian immigrants, re-affirmed his commitment to Judaism with a second Bar Mitzvah — on his 83rd birthday. (You can read more about Kirk Douglas here).

5770: LOOKING BACK

As we prepare for the New Year and Yom Kippur, it’s appropriate to look back and reflect on 5770, the year we leave behind – its joys, oys – gains and tragic losses. Here are but a few highlights:

Jewish Joys:

*Ada Yonath became the first Israeli woman to win a Nobel Prize (chemistry)

*Elana Kagan, became the third Jew on the U.S. Supreme Court, bringing the percentage of Jewish justices to one third! (Though We Jews are only 2% of the U.S. population.)

Jewish Oys:

*Helen Thomas, 89, while being videotaped by a rabbi, said “tell the Jews to get the hell out of Palestine.”

*A Jewish teenager trying to pray on a New York-to-Kentucky on US Airways Express Flight 3079 was using tefillin, leading the captain to divert the flight to Philadelphia, where the commuter plane was greeted by police, bomb-sniffing dogs and federal agents.

In Memoriam: Shalom:

We said goodbye to those diverse, talented, Jews who made us, and the world, a much brighter, prouder place. They will be missed.

Bea Arthur: actress

Marek Edelman: last surviving leader of the Warsaw Ghetto uprising

Donald Fisher: founder of The Gap

Miep Gies: hid Anne Frank and the others in her attic, made Anne’s diary public.

Lillian Goodman: philanthropist, helped develop the Negev

Don Hewitt producer, 60 Minutes

Levi Yitzchak Horowitz: rabbi: first American-born head of a Chasidic dynasty

Featured at Aish.com:

About the Author

Quirky, no-nonsense, funny, Marnie – writer, editor, author, lecturer, clinician, and administrator -- is a straight-shooter, who has a distinctive voice and takes on the world in her columns, features, and books. Her advice column was syndicated through Tribune Media Services, and it currently appears in Singular magazine as Singular Solutions. Marnie has written over 20 books/calendars, including the series “A Little Joy, A Little Oy." Her books include Yiddishe Mamas: The Truth About the Jewish Mother and A Little Joy, A Little Oy (pub. AndrewsMcMeel). She is also an award-winning “calendar queen” having written over 20. She has been nominated for both an Emmy and Writers Guild award.Thefullwiki.org has listed Marnie Macauley on their list of top Jewish_American writers, dead or living. (She’s still deciding which.) She was also chosen as a Distinguished Woman in Las Vegas in March of 2014.

I live in rural Montana where the Cholov Yisrael milk is difficult to obtain and very expensive. So I drink regular milk. What is your view on this?

The Aish Rabbi Replies:

Jewish law requires that there be rabbinic supervision during the milking process to ensure that the milk comes from a kosher animal. In the United States, many people rely on the Department of Agriculture's regulations and controls as sufficiently stringent to fulfill the rabbinic requirement for supervision.

Most of the major Kashrut organizations in the United States rely on this as well. You will therefore find many kosher products in America certified with a 'D' next to the kosher symbol. Such products – unless otherwise specified on the label – are not Cholov Yisrael and are assumed kosher based on the DOA's guarantee.

There are many, however, do not rely on this, and will eat only dairy products that are designated as Cholov Yisrael (literally, "Jewish milk"). This is particularly true in large Jewish communities, where Cholov Yisrael is widely available.

Rabbi Moshe Feinstein wrote that under limited conditions, such as an institution which consumes a lot of milk and Cholov Yisrael is generally unavailable or especially expensive, American milk is acceptable, as the government supervision is adequate to prevent non-kosher ingredients from being added.

It should be added that the above only applies to milk itself, which is marketed as pure cow's milk. All other dairy products, such as cheeses and butter, may contain non-kosher ingredients and always require kosher certification. In addition, Rabbi Feinstein's ruling applies only in the United States, where government regulations are considered reliable. In other parts of the world, including Europe, Cholov Yisrael is a requirement.

There are additional esoteric reasons for being stringent regarding Cholov Yisrael, and because of this it is generally advisable to consume only Cholov Yisroel dairy foods.

In 1889, 800 Jews arrived in Buenos Aires, marking the birth of the modern Jewish community in Argentina. These immigrants were fleeing poverty and pogroms in Russia, and moved to Argentina because of its open door policy of immigration. By 1920, more than 150,000 Jews were living in Argentina. Juan Peron's rise to power in 1946 was an ominous sign, as he was a Nazi sympathizer with fascist leanings. Peron halted Jewish immigration to Argentina, introduced mandatory Catholic religious instruction in public schools, and allowed Argentina to become a haven for fleeing Nazis. (In 1960, Israeli agents abducted Adolf Eichmann from a Buenos Aires suburb.) Today, Argentina has the largest Jewish community in Latin America with 250,000, though terror attacks have prompted many young people to emigrate. In 1992, the Israeli Embassy in Buenos Aires was bombed, killing 32 people. In 1994, the Jewish community headquarters in Buenos Aires was bombed, killing 85 people. The perpetrators have never been apprehended.

Be aware of what situations and behaviors give you pleasure. When you feel excessively sad and cannot change your attitude, make a conscious effort to take some action that might alleviate your sadness.

If you anticipate feeling sad, prepare a list of things that might make you feel better. It could be talking to a specific enthusiastic individual, running, taking a walk in a quiet area, looking at pictures of family, listening to music, or reading inspiring words.

While our attitude is a major factor in sadness, lack of positive external situations and events play an important role in how we feel.

[If a criminal has been executed by hanging] his body may not remain suspended overnight ... because it is an insult to God (Deuteronomy 21:23).

Rashi explains that since man was created in the image of God, anything that disparages man is disparaging God as well.

Chilul Hashem, bringing disgrace to the Divine Name, is one of the greatest sins in the Torah. The opposite of chilul Hashem is kiddush Hashem, sanctifying the Divine Name. While this topic has several dimensions to it, there is a living kiddush Hashem which occurs when a Jew behaves in a manner that merits the respect and admiration of other people, who thereby respect the Torah of Israel.

What is chilul Hashem? One Talmudic author stated, "It is when I buy meat from the butcher and delay paying him" (Yoma 86a). To cause someone to say that a Torah scholar is anything less than scrupulous in meeting his obligations is to cause people to lose respect for the Torah.

Suppose someone offers us a business deal of questionable legality. Is the personal gain worth the possible dishonor that we bring not only upon ourselves, but on our nation? If our personal reputation is ours to handle in whatever way we please, shouldn't we handle the reputation of our nation and the God we represent with maximum care?

Jews have given so much, even their lives, for kiddush Hashem. Can we not forego a few dollars to avoid chilul Hashem?

Today I shall...

be scrupulous in all my transactions and relationships to avoid the possibility of bringing dishonor to my God and people.

With stories and insights,
Rabbi Twerski's new book Twerski on Machzor makes Rosh Hashanah prayers more meaningful. Click here to order...